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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. track — to keep track
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. track — a song
  5. last — finally
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. saw — the tool
  8. last — to go on
  9. lean — thin
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hand — help
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. lean — to bend
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. track — a path
  17. root — of a plant
  18. hand — in cards
  19. root — of a word
  20. capital — a city
  21. root — the cause
  22. capital — money
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com